The Banks of Certain Rivers by Jon Harrison + a Giveaway

Good morning, everyone! I had to bring this post back in light of the author's new edition and publishing deal. An author whose work I very much enjoy and whose opinion on books I very much respect, recommended Harrison's self-published book last year in her efforts to help spread the word. Since then, Harrison's book has been acquired by Lake Union Publishing and a brand spanking new edition hit shelves yesterday. So for all of you new readers, heads up - you're going to want to check this one out! (Psst, I get to offer up a copy for giveaway - read through to the bottom to enter!)

Neil Kazenzakis doesn't exactly have it easy: he's a high school teacher with a teenage son he's been raising on his own since his wife was hospitalized a few years ago. Neil and his son, Chris, are doing their best. Chris does well in school and is planning to start college in a year. But Neil has been in a relationship for the past two years, something he's been careful to keep from his son out of fear of how he will react. Just when he's ready to finally come clean, Neil is accused of beating up a student. A scandalizing YouTube video is all the proof most people need of the event, but Neil stands by his side of the story. The video's account isn't what really happened. Suspended while the event is investigated, Neil's world is further shaken by the threat of losing his job and the insurance that pays for his wife's long term care.

While the story is playing out, there are emails addressed to Neil's wife interspersed throughout the story. It's his journal of sorts and gives readers further insight into the various things Neil struggles with. His friend Alan serves as a good sounding board for some of these issues, but Neil spends a lot of time hiding things from those around him - not really for his own sake but to protect the people he loves from the things he thinks might hurt them. Neil puts up a good front, but it wears on him and as the story progresses he starts to crack.

Neil reminisces about his life, his marriage, his family, and his friends throughout the story as well. It's worked into the narrative in a way that it doesn't at all hinder the flow of the story, which has a great pacing. Harrison's prose is very smooth, the kind of story that sweeps you along so that you don't even notice how much time has passed when you next look up from the page.

Harrison's characters and their relationships are the driving force of this story. Without such fantastic characterization, the story would still have been a good story but the characters make it more relatable and human.

Rating: 4.5/5

For more on Jon and his work you can check out the book's official website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

As promised, I do have a copy to give away. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 6. Open US only - no PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: Books in My Fall TBR

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: Fall TBR Titles!

Ryder by Nick Pengelley + a Giveaway

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Nick Pengelley's Ryder. Note there is a tour wide giveaway on this one so be sure to read through to the end to enter.

When renowned academic Sir Evelyn Montagu is discovered dead in his apartment, Ayesha Ryder is called in to help. Initially, the investigators on the case only want her opinion on some documents found in the apartment. Montagu had clearly been tortured and his house ransacked - clues left at the scene suggest a Middle East link and Ayesha is something of a go to in those matters. 

To Ayesha, though, nothing about the scene is straightforward. And as someone who was very, very close to Montagu, she quickly realizes he's left clues specifically for her to find. Those clues send Ayesha and the detectives on the case down a twisted path that places them all in danger. Obscure encoded messages lead them to the long and violent tension between Israel and Palestine and strangely to T.E. Lawrence and incidents that occurred around the time of his death. If Ayesha and the police can tease out the meaning of the clues, they may just find a motive for Montagu's murder and maybe even the identity of the people responsible. But only if they can live long enough to make it to the end.

I was quite pleasantly surprised by Nick Pengelley's debut! Ryder blends all of the best elements of political thriller, espionage, conspiracy theory, and history together to create a read that's part puzzle and all action.

Ayesha is a character with a mysterious past - terrorist ties (to some) and a reliable consultant (to others). DI Holden and DS Ryan make for good companions, even if they are somewhat cliche (Holden sometimes comes across as a not-quite-so-bright detective while Ryan is a bit of a know-it-all). Throw in the fascinating life and history of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and a slew of other well known figures (Churchill, Edward VIII...) and you have all the pieces you need to make a good book. Pengelley goes one further, though, making use of fabulous lesser-known history of London as a further backdrop to the story.

The real meat of the tale, though, is set in the controversial establishment of the State of Israel. Montagu, a scholar with an avid interest in T.E. Lawrence, makes a discovery that, on the eve of a new peace talk between Israel and Palestine, could have overwhelming ramifications for everyone involved. Before you know it, Ayesha and her friends are caught in the middle of a decades long political argument, with no real idea who is an ally and who is an enemy.  

Ryder really was quite fun and clever! This kicks off a new e series, one that will appeal to fans of Steve Berry's Cotton Malone books.

As mentioned above there is a tour wide giveaway here. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

The Bully of Order by Brian Hart

Hi, everyone! Today I'm part of the TLC book tour for Brian Hart's The Bully of Order.

Here's the official description of the book:

Washington Territory, 1886

Jacob and Nell Ellstrom step from ship to shore and are struck dumb by the sight of their new home—the Harbor, a ragged township of mud streets and windowless shacks. In the years to come this will be known as one of the busiest and most dangerous ports in the world, and with Jacob’s station as the only town physician, prosperity and respect soon rain down on the Ellstroms. Then their son, Duncan, is born, and these are grand days, busy and full of growth. But when a new physician arrives, Jacob is revealed as an impostor, a fraud, and he flees, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

Years later, on a fated Fourth of July picnic, Duncan Ellstrom falls in love. Her name is Teresa Boyerton, and her father owns the largest sawmill in the Harbor. Their relationship is forbidden by class and by circumstance, because without Jacob there to guide him, Duncan has gone to work for Hank Bellhouse, the local crime boss. Now, if Duncan wants to be with Teresa, he must face not only his past, but the realities of a dark and violent world and his place within it.

Told from various points of view, Brian Hart’s novel follows the evolution of the Harbor from a mudstamp outpost to a city that rivals the promise of San Francisco. The Bully of Order is a meditation on progress, love, and identity; a spellbinding novel of fate and redemption—told with a muscular lyricism and filled with a cast of characters Shakespearean in scope—where everyone is as much at the mercy of the weather as they are of the times.

Readers, I don't mean to look like I'm phoning it in for this review but I honestly just didn't hit it off with this one. I started it. I started it over. I thumbed through and skimmed it. I read other reviews and I started once again. By this point I think I harbored some serious resentment towards The Bully of Order! Some have pointed out that the author's style takes some getting used to but I never was able to get the hang of it. Instead I slogged through, page by page, wishing and hoping that I'd be able to come to some sort of compromise with the book - or that it would just wear me down - and hoping that it would pick up. It never did.

This is an incredibly bleak book. The author's style leans towards clipped sentences and something close to stream of consciousness narration on the part of the characters (close to, but not exactly - either way it made it difficult to follow).

I should point out that there are some quite nice reviews of this book. I should further point out that the author's style isn't bad but was something I simply couldn't wrap my brain around at this point in time.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Brian Hart and his work, you can visit his website here.

New Releases 9/23/14

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

The Witch and Other Tales Retold by Jean Thompson

Fearie Tales: Stories of the Grimm & Gruesome ed by Stephen Jones

The Ghost & Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick (reissue)

To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie

Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Coma by Robin Cook (reissue)

Julia by Peter Straub (reissue)

Gutenberg's Apprentice by Alix Christie

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

The Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher

Wouldn't It Be Deadly by D. E. Ireland

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Silent Murders by Mary Miley

Rose Gold by Walter Mosely

The Seventh Sigil by Margaret Weis & Robert Krammes

Daring by Elliott James

The Day of Atonement by David Liss

Skink - No Surrender by Carl Hiassen

Tape by Steven Camden

In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper

New on DVD:
The Signal
The Calling
Neighbors

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
Pines by Blake Crouch

The Last Town by Blake Crouch

There's little to keep secret by now if you've read both Pines and Wayward but if you've stumbled across this review without having read those two I'll try to be somewhat vague :)

Just weeks ago, Special Agent Ethan Burke was on assignment tracking down two missing agents. His investigation took him to Wayward Pines, a town that turned out to be anything but normal. Ethan's knowledge and skills left him perfectly aligned to be of use to the town's founder, David Pilcher, and so he was shown the truth about Wayward Pines. But being part of the inside circle wasn't all it was cracked up to be, especially when Ethan began learning more about Pilcher himself. In saving his friend and former partner, Ethan told the citizens everything he knew about Pilcher, the town, and what lay beyond its borders. 

As the walls of his built paradise began to crumble, Pilcher decided that Ethan and everyone else in Wayward Pines would have to pay the price for such a betrayal. 

The Last Town picks up immediately where Wayward leaves off, with the citizens of Wayward Pines reeling from Ethan's announcement. And of course everything soon goes to hell in a hand basket. Pilcher has cut the power to the fence and Ethan has to try and save his family and as many of the other Pines citizens he can. But with few weapons and an enemy only Ethan has faced, it seems the endeavor might be destined to fail.

I'm on the fence about the ending of The Last Town. It's not at all a bad ending but it is one that left me wanting more. Perhaps it's the flip side of the coin here - I've benefitted by being able to zip through the series now that all three are out, but I've also immersed myself so completely in the world Crouch has created that it's very hard to leave it behind.

There are a series of shorts associated with the trilogy out via Kindle Worlds, which is an interesting concept. Some of the contributing authors are authors you might well know (F. Paul Wilson, Brett Battles...). Unfortunately I don't have a kindle nor am I quite so desperate that I'll read the shorts on my computer at this point. I'm also not sure that any of these pick up in the aftermath of The Last Town, and that's what I'd really be hoping for. I may dive in at some time in the future, though, especially after I get a taste of the tv show.

Aside from knowing that I'll miss the universe, this has been a quite fabulous and fun trilogy! I definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for three quick and gripping, action packed reads.

Rating: 4/5

I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe + a Giveaway

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Erin Lindsay McCabe's I Shall Be Near To You. Thanks to the publisher, I'm able to offer up one copy in a giveaway so be sure to read to the bottom to enter to win.

It's 1862 and Jeremiah Wakefield is planning to enlist. The money he'd earn would go a long way towards buying a farm of his own. With money in his pocket and the promise of a future he'd then be comfortable asking for Rosetta to be his wife.

But Rosetta has other plans! If Jeremiah is to enlist then Rosetta wants to be married straight away. She aims to begin their life together before possibly losing that chance. And when Jeremiah leaves for war, she also aims to be by his side. While the front lines are, according to everyone around her, no place for a woman, Rosetta conceives of a plan that will - if successful - allow her not only to be with her husband while he is away, but earn her own money to put towards their farm as well. Rosetta has never been one to stick to womanly duties anyway; she's never been afraid of hard or messy work. So she cuts her hair, takes some of Jeremiah's clothes, and passes herself off as Ross Stone, enlisting in the same company as Jeremiah and his friends.

Readers I was really excited to get a chance to review I Shall Be Near To You. I'd already read some great reviews, including Kelly's here, so I did have pretty high expectations - but I can safely assure you that Erin Lindsay McCabe succeeded in every aspect with this book.

It's something of a heart wrenching story. I cannot imagine being a newlywed and immediately facing the prospect of becoming a widow - something Rosetta does very much believe will happen, especially considering this is the fate that has recently befallen one of her own peers. And Rosetta is something of a strange bird. She wants to farm, she wants to work outside, she doesn't want to do all of the things she's told a proper woman should do. Without Jeremiah by her side supporting her in this her confidence begins to falter.

While life today is so completely different for us, putting myself in Rosetta's shoes was something Erin Lindsay McCabe allowed me to do here in I Shall Be Near To You. She really does a wonderful job in imparting both the the fears and concerns and overwhelming emotions someone like Rosetta would have been up against.

Rosetta is drawn from real inspiration - I honestly had no idea that so many real women had indeed donned men's clothing and enlisted to fight in the Civil War! Not only would the prospect of fighting have obviously seemed daunting to women of the time, the consequences of being caught would likely have deterred many others. Not these women, though, and as McCabe points out in her afterword, many were successful in completely hiding their identities. I loved that in learning that, McCabe immediately had the same question many of us would - how? How did they do it? What were they feeling?... And it's these questions that she explores with Rosetta.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you like historical fiction and strong female characters, I Shall Be Near To You will definitely hit the spot!

And now for the giveaway! To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 6. Open US/Canada only. No PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Erin Lindsay McCabe, you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.